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After two years of fruitless drilling for oil in Greenland’s Arctic waters,
Cairn Energy has plumped for the much safer bet of the North Sea.

The FTSE 250 explorer has bought Agora Oil and Gas from the Rothschild family
for £280 million in cash and shares. The banking dynasty will pocket £114
million, almost tripling its investment in just over two years.

Simon Thomson, Cairn’s chief executive, said that the deal was “an important
first step in establishing balance in the Cairn portfolio”. Morgan Stanley
analysts called it a “starter-pack” acquisition and said that similar deals
could follow.